Toy gun



Feb. 315, 1938.

TOY GUN Filed Oct. 2, 1956 TTonNEY Patented Feb. 15, 1938 PAT E NT' 0F FICE 2,108,669 TOY GUN Frank L. Johnson, Akron, Ohio Application October 2, 1936,. SerialNo. 103,657.-

1 0 Claims.

invention relatesf to toy` guns,A and, more especially it relates to toy guns of the type that discharge" elastic. missilessuch as rubber bands.

The chief. objects ofthe invention. are to provide a toy gun off the. character described of an irreducible` minimumnumber. of: parts; to provide a. rubber bandi, shooter of such low cost as to permit it' to besold at alow price, or even to be given away as an. advertisement; and to provide a toy that is of realistic appearance. Other objectswill be: manifest as the specification proceeds.

f the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a toy gun embodying the invention, in its preferred form, and an: elastic missile in position to be discharged therefrom, the discharge position` of .the elements of-v thegun being shown in broken lines;

Figure 2 is an enolY elevation of the structure shown in. Figure l, as viewed. from. the right thereof; and

Figure 3 is afperspective viewof the member that'constitutes the butt. or handle of the gun.

Referring tothe drawing, it. will be seen that the improved gun comprises but three elements,

namely, abutt or handle I0, af unitary structure comprising a barrel I-'I and trigger |21 movable relatively of said butt, and a spring member I3 normally retaining said barreland butt in determinate relationship. A missile consisting of a rubber bandy I4` is shown in association with the gun in the loaded condition of the latter.

As is most clearly shown' in Figure, the butt III is-a channel-shaped metal,l structure, the parallellegszor'flanges Illa, Illa of which are formed,

adjacent their upper ends, with respective pairs of apertures I5, I 5 and I6, I6, the apertures in one flange being axially aligned with respective apertures of the other flange.

The unitary barrel and trigger structure preferaby is formed of a single wire that is reversely bent upon itself so as to provide spaced apart parallel portions that constitute the barrel of the gun and said parallel portions are united at the muzzle of the gun by an arcuate intermediate portion IIa that is so disposed as to provide a notch Il in the end of the barrel. In the assembled structure the parallel portions of the barrel wire are slidably positioned in the apertures I5, I6 of the butt I0, the upper wire being disposed in the upper apertures and the lower wire in the lower apertures. The free end of the lower barrel-wire is bent downwardly at right angles into parallelism with the butt ID and constitutes the trigger I2 of the device.

The spring` I'3, hereiny shown as a rubber band, islooped about the butt III and barrel. II, being engaged in the notch Il' atthe muzzle of the latter, saidl spring normally urginglthe muzzle of thegun toward the butt ID.' The lower wire of the barrel structure I=I is formed. with` a stop, herein shown as an offset I9. in the wire, which stop limits the relative movement of the butt and the barrely structure under the impetus of; spring I3;l Relative movement of the butt and barrel against the tension of spring I3: is limited by the trigger portion I2 of the barrel structure, which trigger substantially abuts the member III, as indicatedin broken lines in Figure 1, in the discharge position of the respective elements. of the gun.

In the normal position of the elements ofthe gun, the free end of the top wire of the. barrel. IiI` projects but a short distance (about 1A@ inch) beyond aperture I6 of butt I0, as-indicated at 20, andv such projecting portion constitutes an anchorage forthe missile I4 in theloaded condition of, the gun and a releasing device in the discharge condition of the gun.

In the operation ofthe gun, with the parts in the normalfposition shown in full lines in Fig'- ure 1, the rubber band. Illf is mounted in tensioned condition thereon, one end of the band being looped about the notch I'I at the muzzle of the barrel II and the other end. of the bands being passed over the top of` butt IIland looped under the projecting end' portion 2l)A of the upper wire ofy the barrel; The gun is held in the hand and may be aimed in the usual manner. The gun is discharged by closing the hand in such a man.- ner as to urge the trigger I2 toward the butt III, against the tension of spring I3 and the missile I Il, thereby moving the entire barrel structure relatively of the butt to the position indicated by broken lines in Figure l. Inv the aforesaid relative movement of the elements of the gun, the projecting portion 2U of the barrel structure moves through the upper aperture I6 of the butt to a point between the respective flanges Illa of the latter, and thus is disengaged from the missile I4 so as to release the latter. Contraction of the missile propels it from the muzzle of the gun toward the target at which the gun is aimed. When the operator opens his hand the spring I3 restores the butt and barrel of the gun to their normal positions.

From the foregoing it will beevident that the spring I3 is not really essential to the operation of the gun, since its only purpose is to restore the two relatively movable operative elements of the gun to normal position after discharge. In the absence of the spring the tension of the missile I4 would hold the parts in proper position, ready to be discharged. Obviously other types of springs may be employed, the rubber band being preferred for the reason that it is cheap and readily available.

The gun is simple in construction and operation and achieves the other advantages set out in the foregoing statement of objects.

Modification may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy gun of the character described, the combination of a member constituting the butt of the gun, and a member constituting the barrel thereof, said barrel member being slidably mounted in said butt member and comprising means for holding an elastic band under tension, said band being disengaged from said barrel member by movement of the barrel member as a Whole relatively of the butt.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 including a trigger formed integral with the barrel member and adapted for use in eifecting relative movement of the barrel member and butt mem` ber.

3. In a toy gun of the character described, the combination of a member constituting the butt of the gun, and a member constituting the barrel of the gun, said barrel member being slidably mounted for longitudinal movement in said butt, and having a portion projecting rearwardly of the butt, in the loaded condition of the gun, constituting an anchorage for one end of an elastic missile, said projecting portion being disposed` within the butt, in the discharge condition of the gun, whereby the missile is released.

4. In a toy gun of the character described, the combination of a member constituting the butt of the gun, a member constituting the barrel of the gun slidably mounted for longitudinal movement in said butt, a yielding tension member urging said barrel member as a whole in one direction to a position in said butt member whereat an elastic missile may be received upon the gun, and means for limiting the movement of the barrel member under impetus of said yielding member, said barrel member being manually movable relatively of the butt member, against said yielding member, to effect discharge 0f said missile.

5. A combination as deiined in claim 4 including a portion formed integral with said barrel member and disposed at an angle thereto, adjacent the butt, so as to constitute a trigger for moving the barrel member relatively of the butt member, against the tension of the yielding member, when said butt and trigger are squeezed together.

6. In a toy gun of the character described, the combination of a rod reversely bent upon itself to constitute a barrel member, a butt member within which said barrel member is slidably mounted for longitudinal movement, one end of said bent rod projecting rearwardly of the butt, in the loaded condition of the gun, so as to constitute an anchorage for one end of an elastic missile, and a hand-grip portion on the barrel member for moving the latter relatively of the butt so as to move the projecting missile-anchorage portion of the barrel to a point interiorly of the butt and thereby to release the missile.

'7. In a device for projecting elastic bands, the combination of a rod reversely bent upon itself to constitute a barrel member, a butt member consisting of a metal channel, the parallel anges of which are formed with aligned apertures that slidingly receive the parallel portions of the barrel structure, a means for determinately limiting sliding movement of the barrel relatively of the butt, one end portion of the barrel-rod being disposed between the butt-flanges at one extremity of the barrels range of movement.

8. In a device for projecting elastic bands, the combination of a rod reversely folded upon itself to constitute a barrel member, a butt member consisting of a metal channel, the parallel flanges of which are formed with aligned apertures in which the barrel member is slidably mounted for longitudinal movement relatively of the butt, one portion of the barrel rod being deformed at opposite sides of the butt member so as determinately to limit the movement of the barrel relatively of the butt, the other portion of the barrel rod being of such length that its end projects through the butt at one extremity of the barrels range of movement and is disposed between the butt-flanges at the other extremity of the barrels range of movement.

9. A combination as defined in claim 8 in which the movement-limiting deformation of the barrel structure comprises a trigger for use in keffecting relative movement of the barrel and utt.

10. A combination as defined in claim 8, including yielding means engaging the barrel and butt and normally urging them toward one eX- tremity of their range of relative movement.

FRANK L. JOHNSON. 

